


A Reason to Hold Back

by zarabithia



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: F/M, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-05-25
Updated: 2009-05-25
Packaged: 2018-01-26 10:19:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 476
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1684814
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zarabithia/pseuds/zarabithia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>With Pepper in his life, Tony keeps finding reasons to make less destructive choices.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Reason to Hold Back

Champagne was one of the kinder parts of the business world. It was one of the socially acceptable ways to get drunk enough to completely ignore whatever nonsense your opponent was sputtering on and on about. In fact, Tony was pretty sure that was the entire reason it had been invented. 

Most people even thought it was a sign of sophistication...if he was to get wasted on a six pack of beer at a charity fund raiser, that would be outrageous and his face would be all over the tabloids. But if he was to have two or three glasses of bubbly goodness...well, you were just a cultured businessman indulging in a little social drinking.

The problem was, Pepper didn't distinguish much between beer and Champagne . She didn't care for the smell - or taste - of either drink on him. 

Which is why Tony had to sit through two hours of a proposal to build a glorified merry go round without his normal champagne indulgence to help numb the annoyance.

It was a sacrifice made well worth the effort, however, when he arrived home and greeted Pepper with a kiss that tasted only of bottled water, coffee and the tasty shrimp hor'dourves. Far from pulling away, Pepper leaned up into the kiss. 

"How was the fund raiser?" Pepper asked after the kiss was broken.

"Never going without you again," Tony said firmly, thinking that restraining from alcohol for Pepper was a much better deterrent than any twelve step program could be. "How was the S.H.I.E.L.D. briefing?" 

"Probably much better than your fund raiser," Pepper admitted. 

"Mmm. Nice dress, by the way," Tony said, as he reached around her to find the zipper. "That a new hairstyle? Hope all that wasn't for Fury's benefit." 

"Here I thought men weren't supposed to notice the tiny things, like hair and dresses," Pepper answered.

"Pepper, dear, we're not all cavemen," Tony assured her, finally finding the zipper and giving it a tug. "And while some men may not notice the hair, we always notice the dress. Usually, we're trying to get you ladies out of it, after all."

Pepper sighed as she kicked off her heels. "You were doing so well, too. Until just that last sentence." 

"I'm sorry. I can think of at least thirty ways to make it up to you," Tony enticed as the dress fell to the floor. 

"How piggish are those ways, on a scale of one to ten?" Pepper asked skeptically.

Tony nuzzled her neck and focused his attention on unsnapping her bra. "At least half of them are below a five," he decided.

"As long as we keep it below five," Pepper mocked. 

"My dear Miss Potts, I do aim to please," Tony assured her. "And I plan on spending the rest of the night proving it."


End file.
